Spider Girl
by Hidden Circumstance
Summary: Tony Stark knows his intern, Penny Parker, has a secret but never would have guessed that she was Spider Girl. Irondad/Spider Girl


"Hi Penny, come on in."

"Thanks, Mr. Stark," Penny responded then set to work at her table.

Stark observed Penny working at her station for several minutes, FRIDAY's words echoing through his mind. _No better time than the present, right?_ Tony thought to himself then took a steadying breath.

"So, how's school?" Stark began, deciding to go with the less serious options first.

"Good. Aced the chem test yesterday."

"Good, good. Any problems there, maybe other kids?"

Penny hesitated for a moment, scrunching her brows, then looked over at her mentor, "Um, no, everything's fine."

"Good, no bullies or anything, any one messing with you, boyfriend?"

"Ah, no. No boyfriend. Nope, everything's fine," Penny couldn't help the sick feeling stirring in the pit of her stomach, anxiety building at her mentor's interrogation.

"Home? Everything ok with your aunt?"

"Yup, like I said everything is fine."

"Does your aunt have a boyfriend?"

"Mr. Stark, please, what's this all about?"

"Did you know FRIDAY scans everyone who enters certain locations throughout the building, any area that houses classified or sensitive information, like my lab? You know, just the basics for security."

Blood drained from Penny's face, _he must know about all the bruises and cuts, everything!_

Mr. Stark noticed Penny's reaction, sure now more than ever, that something was wrong. He decided to push again, needing to know who to go after for hurting this girl. "Penny, I know about the injuries. Who's hurting you?"

Penny shook her head, scanning the possible exits for a quick retreat, wanting to leave before the conversation went any further.

"Penny, I care about you and I don't want anyone to hurt you ever again. Talk to me."

With that Penny darted for the door. "FRIDAY, lock the door!" Mr. Stark shouted just as Penny's hands reached the handle. She shook the door, frustrated that her escape was blocked.

"Let me out!" Penny screamed then turned quickly, keeping an eye on Mr. Stark. Although she knew he wouldn't hurt her, she felt in danger. Her secret—the need to keep Spider Girl a secret, the need to keep her abilities a secret—was in imminent danger of being exposed. "Please, don't do this."

"I'm not going to hurt you. I want to keep you safe." Penny was taken off guard by Stark's comment. She believed he wanted to help her but didn't know if he could.

"You don't understand; it's not what you think. Ok, just let me go."

"Help me to understand then," Mr. Stark decided to change his tactic, seeing the panic and fear in Penny's eyes.

Penny shook her head, "Please, don't…please."

"You can go, but if you do without telling me what's going on, I will be contacting Child Protective Services as soon as you walk through those doors."

Penny's mouth dropped open, "You can't do that!"

"Yes, I can and will. I'm not going to sit back and let someone hurt you anymore."

"You don't understand!"

"So, you've said. Tell me what's going on."

"No, I can't. They will take me away!" Penny clamped her hands over her mouth, regretting her last words.

"Who will take you away?" Stark looked at Penny, hoping for a response, for several moments before continuing, "Would you feel more comfortable if Miss Potts was here."

Penny's eyes grew impossibly wide, then she fiercely shook her head.

"You have to give me something. I'm not letting you leave here unless I know you are safe."

Frustrated tears fell down Penny's cheeks. _I knew an internship with Mr. Stark was too good to be true; I was so stupid!_

"Penny," her mentor's soft voice broke through her raging thoughts. "Please, talk to me."

"No one's hurting me."

Stark sighed in frustration. "How did you get those bruises?" he asked her, maintaining eye contact.

"I…I just get hurt a lot."

Stark shook his head. "Try again."

"Please, don't make me tell you. It's not what you think, no one's hurting me."

"Are you hurting yourself?"

"Ah…" Penny paused, trying to decide the best way to answer his question without saying too much. "Sort of, I guess."

"What does that mean?"

"It's not intentional."

Her mentor raised an eye brow, assessing her. "'Not intentional?' So, you're just clumsy, that's what you going with?"

Penny didn't respond, hoping he would back off. No such luck. "FRIDAY, contact Child Protective Services."

"No!" Penny screamed. "I'll tell you, stop, please stop!"

"Delay that order," Stark said then prompted Penny to continue. "I'm listening, but if you feed me a line like that again, I'm not going to hesitate."

Penny started to sob, not seeing another way out. Her greatest fears were coming to life. Tony gently patted Penny on the shoulder, careful not to scare her. Penny took a few deep breaths then began. "So, I…I'm Spider Girl."

Tony grunted in frustrated anger. "FRIDAY, call—"

"It's true! It's true, I can prove it." Penny yelled, interrupting Stark from making the promised call.

Tony looked at the girl, weighing the likelihood that this was a trick but decided to give her time to show him the proof. "Alright."

Penny took another deep breath then slowly got to her feet. She struggled to calm her body but knew if she didn't show Mr. Stark what she could do, he would make the call. Penny leaped onto the ceiling, hanging upside down. Stark stared at her, shocked by what he was seeing. Could his intern, the girl that he'd been spending time with every afternoon really be Spider Girl?

Penny waited, anxiety turning into panic while she wanted for her mentor to speak.

"Come sit down, we need to talk." Penny jumped down then made her way to the soft black leather couch situated in the corner of Mr. Stark's lab.

"How did this happen?"

"Um, I was bite by a spider…on a field trip last spring."

"Field trip? To where?"

"Oscorp."

"Slimy son of a bitch," Tony mumbled under his breath. "What can you do?"

"I have faster reflexes, can climb stuff, heal fast," Penny shrugged her shoulders, to lighten her words.

Tony looked over at Penny on the last tidbit. "Heal fast…how bad are you getting hurt if you still look that bad when you're here?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Yes, I sure as hell want you to answer that!"

Penny stiffened at her mentor's harsh words. "Oh, um…usually just bruises, cuts, scrapes things like that, sometimes other stuff-nothing I can't handle though."

Tony huffed, "You're just a kid, how do you know what you can handle?"

Penny kept quiet, unsure if that was rhetorical or not. "So, what are you going to do?" Penny asked, scared of what her mentor would do with this new information.

Tony sighed while roughly rubbing the back of his head. "I understand why you didn't want to say anything. If the authorities found out…you're right, they probably would take you away." Tony sighed again. "I won't tell anyone but you need to make me a promise."

"Um ok, what is it?"

"You need to let me know before you go out as Spider Girl and when you return home. If you are injured, even normal bruises, you need to tell me and I reserve the right to scan you for injuries every day. If you fail to comply, I will need to at least talk to your aunt."

"You can't tell Aunt May!"

"I only need to tell her if you decide to hide injuries. If you need medical attention, you need to let me know so we can take care of it. Understand?"

Penny nodded.

"And, you can't skip out or quit the internship because I need to know you are ok. Understand?"

Penny nodded again, relieved that he wasn't going to tell anyone and relieved that she had someone in her corner now to help. "Thank you, Mr. Stark."

Tony nodded trying to put a smile on his face to hide his concern, his protective instincts on overdrive, already planning to watch the videos on the internet taken of Spider Girl in action and maybe to make her a suit.

**Author's Note:**

**I posted this chapter to see if there's interest in a full story. Let me know what you think. Thanks!**


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